thieving flatmates

top_drawer_2

hiya,

Another hassle with flatmates ....

One of my flatmates is always skint and so I try to be "flexible" with regard to bread and milk etc as theyre stuff that i've lots of. However, today I think she has pushed it too far.... I left some tuna mayonaise mix in the fridge and she has helped herself to it .... when I looked part of it had been scraped out and left a mess - there was no way I could have had what little was left in the state it had been left. I put it on the side of the sink to wash up later and she has helped herself to the rest!!

Cheeky mare :rolleyes:

How do you reckon I should approach or should I just do what i've done in the past and be better organised and freeze my bread, getting it out when needed etc ...

Jen

PasturesNew

Make some ex-lax chocolate mousse and leave it in the fridge.

top_drawer_2

lol I dont dislike her that much!! I'm just sick of giving willingly to people and them taking the p!ss

Jen

Oldernotwiser

Somehow it's quite reassuring that the world of flat sharing hasn't changed over the years!

Lokolo

I wanted to make a nice fryup this morning and someones used my frying pans. Last night I wanted to have rice and meatballs but someone has used my pans.

I want to put my food on my plate (I got fish and chips from the chippy), I have 1 plate left - I came with 4. I had 4 sets of knives and forks, I now have 2.

Fire_Fox

top_drawer wrote: »

hiya,

Another hassle with flatmates ....

One of my flatmates is always skint and so I try to be "flexible" with regard to bread and milk etc as theyre stuff that i've lots of. However, today I think she has pushed it too far.... I left some tuna mayonaise mix in the fridge and she has helped herself to it .... when I looked part of it had been scraped out and left a mess - there was no way I could have had what little was left in the state it had been left. I put it on the side of the sink to wash up later and she has helped herself to the rest!!

Cheeky mare :rolleyes:

How do you reckon I should approach or should I just do what i've done in the past and be better organised and freeze my bread, getting it out when needed etc ...

Jen

I struggle to believe that many students are too poor to buy basic food: she is either totally disorganised with finances or totally inconsiderate of her peers or both. :rolleyes: You aren't doing either of you any favours by putting up with this.

I'd be inclined to purchase replacements, put the receipt in an envelope and ask her politely to settle up at the end of the month (or whenever you know she will get paid). Or print out links to this website, budget planners and a cheap student recipe or two with a friendly note saying you are there if she needs to talk.

blue_ashleigh

You could ask her if she wants anything from the shops while you're going (e.g. bread or milk etc.). Then ask her for the money as you're "a bit skint at the moment".

Or stick 'use by...' labels on your food but with the date being a few days earlier than it is... no one wants to risk gone off food. Though you could end up with lots of food being binned if she's also tidy!

SpaceMonkey

I would look on freecycle for a small fridge and keep it either locked in the kitchen or in my room

3plus1

I had the pleasure of living with a selfish, lazy, thieving git for a year. If I batch cooked food, he would steal it and eat it. So, I only ever cooked as I went along. And ate it, immediately.

I stored dry foods such as cereal in my room (safely tucked away, because if it was easy to get at, he would have taken it). I had no problems storing basic cooking ingredients or raw ingredients in the kitchen (e.g. flour, raw meat, etc) because he wouldn't have known how to cook them and eat them.

Butter can be kept out a fridge (preferably in a butter dish) in a cool place in your room, so if toast for breakfast is an option, you can happily hide that entire meal in your room. I learned to drink tea without milk that year and I still don't drink milk in my tea now, years on.

I did once eat some of his food to prove a point. He got very angry. He was meant to learn that other people eating your food is not nice, but unfortunately, he didn't get anything out of the exercise. Some people are just naturally inconsiderate.

Before I learned how to strategise and hide as much food as possible in my room, he used to roll in drunk and eat all of my pre-cooked food whilst I was asleep. When confronted, he would laugh and find it hugely entertaining that he had been drunk and eaten my stuff.

Honestly, sharing with other students is enough to put you off sharing for the rest of your life. Now on my second qualification, I live with my boyfriend and the both of us would never live with other people again. I don't know if it's just people in general, or if being a student brings out the worst in some people.

Good luck. It might seem like moneysaving to bulk buy food and store it in a communal kitchen, but when others steal it all, it's not really moneysaving at all. Buy what you need and store what you can in your room. And don't expect a selfish housemate to get any less selfish over the year - once you accept that, it does wonders for your stress levels.

shopaholicleo

I have bought a mini fridge, and my stolen food total has dramatically fallen. I'm not totally sure if they're eating my cupboard food though, I've tried to hide it right at the back. I also hide chips in the freezer within two carrier bags, and wrap anything decent in foil. I also bought some laxatives just in case it happens again...

top_drawer_2

Lokolo wrote: »

I wanted to make a nice fryup this morning and someones used my frying pans. Last night I wanted to have rice and meatballs but someone has used my pans.

I want to put my food on my plate (I got fish and chips from the chippy), I have 1 plate left - I came with 4. I had 4 sets of knives and forks, I now have 2.

I soooo know what you mean - I have a small plate missing along with numberous bits of cutlery. Other bits and pieces also get used and just left where ever they land .... I end up washing them up when I do the rest of my stuff... I also seem to be the only one who ever tidies up.

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I struggle to believe that many students are too poor to buy basic food: she is either totally disorganised with finances or totally inconsiderate of her peers or both. :rolleyes: You aren't doing either of you any favours by putting up with this.

Its not actually a student house although two of us are f/t students. This particular girl works full-time (call centre, so not bad money) but she seems to have a serious lack of money - she lives off food at £5 a week by using all the cheap stuff at asda and just eating a tin of whatever as and when she's hungry...

3plus1 - wow you are a lot more tolerant than me .... I lived with a girl once who was quite similar ... she stole huge quantities of food especially milk and seemed to think she was somehow "entitled" to use it. It was made worse by others in the flat who she was friends with who also didnt like her using their stuff but also didnt like me complaining when she used mine....

Jen